Jermaine Paul Wins ‘The Voice’: Review Revue

The dust has now settled on last night’s Season 2 finale of The Voice, wherein former Alicia Keys backup singer Jermaine Paul was crowned the winner. It was a score for country crooning coach Blake Shelton, who was trounced last year by Adam Levine‘s soulful contestant Javier Colon. (Though, for Paul’s sake, let’s hope his career follows a more fruitful path than Colon’s has to date.) Head below to see our roundup of what the online critics had to say about the Voice finale — and about Jermaine’s big win.

:: The Los Angeles Times was distracted during the final moments of last night’s show: “For some, the takeaway from The Voice finale was an image of Christina Aguilera strutting around in a bedazzled diaper. For the few who managed to see beyond the odd fashion choice, a winner — Jermaine Paul — was named.”

:: The New York Daily News was irked by the fluff: “Viewers had to sit through an hour and 45 minutes of filler to see Paul be anointed the winner, with several celebrity musical performances from Flo Rida, Lady Antebellum, Hall and Oates and Justin Bieber to help pass the time. The show may have hit a season low, though, during the telecast with two-minute videos about Cee Lo’s cat, Purfect, and the bromance between Shelton and Levine.”

:: The New York Times quipped, “This was a surprisingly intimate and affecting outcome for a show that has quite quickly, and quite inadvertently, become a cynic’s preserve.”

:: Entertainment Weekly remained un-wowed with the results: “It was a somewhat languid finale for those of us there in person, as the heat in the soundstage led not to combustion, but wilting… Jermaine Paul reprised his R. Kelly impersonation while slowdancing with his wife, thus proving once and for all what savvy insiders have known for years: You will never, ever beat country music fans in a televised voting situation. I don’t care how many Timberlakes you’ve got tweeting.”

:: At least the Baltimore Sun was pleased: “If anyone ever makes Jermaine Paul be a back-up singer again, America needs to punch that person in the face… Yes, Team Blake took home the crown this year, and the few minutes following that announcement were the best the show has ever seen.”

:: Said Rolling Stone, “Nobody has ever looked simultaneously happier and sadder than former background singer Jermaine Paul, having risen to the top of his competitors to earn the deserved recognition he’s fought for his entire career.”

:: Billboard tried to pinpoint exactly why Paul won: “Paul is the second winner on The Voice whose compelling story of almost making into the major leagues of the record industry gave him underdog appeal from the start. Like the first winner, Javier Colon, Paul had a taste of the big leagues as a teenager… Both winners are family men, committed to making music to put food on the table for their wives and children, men who dedicate their performances to their wives.”

:: Finally, we chuckled over country music site The Boot‘s delivery of this info: “This is Team Blake’s first win on The Voice. One of Blake’s many man-crushes, Maroon 5’s Adam Levine, was the show’s inaugural winner, taking Javier Colon to the top in Season 1.”

What are your own thoughts on Jermaine Paul’s big win? Let us know below, or by hitting us up on Facebook and Twitter!